Blog Posts by Chris Morris

Ni No Kuni: The Wrath of the White Witch (Credit: Namco/Bandai)If you look at the raw numbers, it would appear that the video game industry halted its two-year sales decline in January -- but numbers can be deceiving.

Video game software sales were up 1 percent in January as compared to a year ago and hardware sales climbed 4 percent, according to the NPD Group. Before you break out the bubbly, however, this is an apples-to-oranges comparison.

In truth, software sales were actually down 19 percent, and hardware sales slipped 17 percent. The reason is that the January 2013 data covered a five-week span, from Dec. 30 to Feb 2. Last January’s numbers covered only a four-week period.

Mario's brother (Credit: Nintendo)According to the Chinese calendar, 2013 is the year of the snake. But in Kyoto, Japan -- the headquarters of Nintendo -- it's officially the year of Luigi.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata made the announcement in a direct broadcast to fans, even going so far as to wear Luigi's trademark hat throughout his segment of the broadcast. (Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, it should be noted, declined to wear the headgear, denying Luigi some Valentine's love.)

Apple TV (Credit: Apple)The iPhone has already had a sizable impact on the traditional portable video game industry, but two video game VIPs are cautioning that the company could have a much larger -- and potentially devastating -- impact on the home console market.

Valve Software co-founder Gabe Newell and Nat Brown, who was one of the first engineers on Microsoft's Xbox project, have issued warnings about Apple's potential threat. The alerts come amid analyst speculation that Apple may hold an Apple TV-related special event next month.

Aliens: Colonial Marines (Credit: Sega)In space, no one can hear you scream…unless you’re screaming obscenities about the new Aliens video game. We’re hearing that loud and clear.

Critics are eviscerating Aliens: Colonial Marines, Gearbox's long-anticipated game/sequel to 20^th Century Fox's film franchise, making the horrors the game's xenomorphs inflict seem paltry by comparison.

Released on Tuesday, the game is set between the events of James Cameron’s highly-regarded “Aliens” and the somewhat less highly-regarded “Aliens 3.” Gearbox has billed it as a “direct sequel” and has spoken at length about how it’s the project the studio – and fans of the venerable sci-fi franchise – have been waiting for.

Begun the clone wars have.

Though the U.S. government decided not to fund research into a Death Star, Star Wars fans longing to witness the power of a fully armed and operational battle station have taken to Kickstarter to get it done.

The Rebel Alliance isn't taking that threat lightly, though, and has countered by using the crowdfunding site in an attempt to build an X-Wing fighter.

Brett Ratner will produce Farmville show (Credit: Getty Images/Zynga)If you thought the idea of an Angry Birds movie was ridiculous, how about a cartoon based on Farmville?

Zynga’s long-in-the-tooth Facebook hit is being transformed into a half-hour animated series, and it has managed to snag bigwig Hollywood director Brett Ratner to lead the effort.

Ratner, best known for his work on “Rush Hour” and “X-Men: The Last Stand,” is producing the series, says The Wall Street Journal.

Grand Theft Auto V (Credit: Rockstar Games)They’re at the center of an increasingly heated debate these days, but when you look at the hard numbers, games carrying a ‘Mature’ rating aren’t quite as big a part of the video game industry as they seem.

The ESRB -- the board that assigns ratings to games released in the U.S. and Canada -- says only 9 percent of the 1,218 games released last year received an ‘M’ rating. Such games are intended for those 17 and up and "may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language."

I can has Boardwalk? (Credit: Hasbro)The Scottie dog is about to have a new friend to chase around the Monopoly board.

Following a month-long nationwide vote from fans, Hasbro took to the Today show to announce that it will retire the iron from the game’s iconic pieces, replacing it with a cat.